


The Song of Love

by Icecat45



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Ereri Secret Santa, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 09:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5492543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icecat45/pseuds/Icecat45
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Though Eren hadn't anticipated moving out of his first apartment shortly after moving in, living in a new place wasn't all that bad. And though he had known that his new next door neighbors would be an amateur rock band, he hadn't expected to be swooning over the lead singer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Song of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yullenslullaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yullenslullaby/gifts).



> Ereri Secret Santa 2015!
> 
> The prompt was: Rock band AU with Levi as the vocalist.
> 
> I don't say this in the fic, but Eren is 22 and starting his last year of undergrad, and Levi is 25 and a grad student.
> 
> My tumblr is [icecat45](http://icecat45.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Please leave kudos and/or comments! I really appreciate them!

On this day, Eren Jaeger remembered that life doesn’t always go according to plan. Not just his plan, in this case, but the plan of his two closest friends as well. He, Armin, and Mikasa had managed to rent their first apartment near Sina University at the start of June, and the three of them had been extremely proud of finally having their own place. It had the lowest rent they could find relatively close to campus, and while it wasn’t the fanciest place to live, they thought it would work for them. Well, that is, until an incident (an incident that they would prefer not to speak of, thank you very much) at the beginning of August forced them to move out just as quickly as they moved in.

The incident, of course, being that their apartment complex had become infested with cockroaches. This was through no fault of their own, of course, since they kept their apartment as clean as possible. Well, clean enough to look presentable and avoid attracting uninvited guests. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the other tenants of the apartment complex, given that someone had to be responsible for causing the infestation. To make matters worse, their landlord was more than happy to sweep any rumors of a cockroach infestation under the rug, and refused to do anything about it. Though none of them were happy about the situation, they ultimately chose to live somewhere else, rather than continue to deal with cockroaches and an irresponsible landlord.

“Eren, you said you found a new place for us to stay?” Mikasa asked in a casual tone over breakfast.

“Yeah, I did. It’s a house close to the east side of campus, and I know the people who live there. There’s seven spots on the lease, and Reiner said that three of the people who lived with them didn’t get along, so they’re looking for three roommates.”

“Reiner? You mean that guy who works out with you at the gym?” Armin said in between bites of his toast.

“Yeah, that Reiner.” Eren replied. “He said that we can come over any time today or tomorrow to meet the rest of his roommates. So, what do you think?”

“I think we should do it.” Mikasa said.

“Me, too.” Armin said.

“Oh, and Reiner said that his next-door neighbors formed a garage band, and that they practice their music at home. The noise won’t bother either of you, will it?” Eren honestly hoped neither of them would be, since this was their first (and so far, only) lead in finding a new place with cheap, affordable rent to live.

Armin perked up upon hearing that. He didn’t really see any problem with the neighbors practicing rock music. Well, unless they practiced their music late at night, or something like that (unlikely, but there was always a chance of getting rude neighbors). “I still say we should move in with Reiner and his roommates. His place has cheap rent, and rock music can’t be worse than a cockroach infestation.”

A smile broke out on Eren’s face upon hearing this. As he picked up his phone to call Reiner and set up a time for them to meet his roommates, he knew that everything would turn out well.

*****

Thankfully, Armin and Mikasa got along (relatively) well with Reiner and his roommates (Annie, Bertolt, and Ymir), and the three of them were moved in to their new home within the week (thanks to help from their new roommates, of course). A week after moving in to their new place, Eren hadn’t met his new neighbors, though he had heard them practicing their music on a daily basis. While he hadn’t considered having a band next door to be a bad thing, he _also_ hadn’t considered how talented the lead singer would be. Or that he would be swooning over said singer’s voice. Or that said singer would be Mikasa’s cousin.

Before this, Eren hadn’t considered that he would find someone singing rock music to be _attractive_ , yet here he was. Personally, he’d assumed something like a man singing country western, or smooth jazz would be attractive. Not that he was complaining (Levi _was_ a very good singer). It was only a matter of time, naturally, before his friends found out about his little crush.

“Eren, you’ve been swooning over Levi’s singing voice for a week. Why don’t you just go over and introduce yourself to him? It certainly couldn’t hurt.” Armin was always perceptive about things, so it went without saying that he would have noticed Eren’s little crush (which he apparently hadn’t been as subtle about as he’d thought.

“And what am I supposed to say? That I’ve been swooning over his voice for a week and that I have a crush on him without even knowing him?” Not for the first time, Eren found himself wishing he hadn’t gotten a crush. That, or he’d at least met Levi before crushing on him.

Mikasa spoke up then, in an attempt to soothe Eren’s frazzled nerves. “Eren, I know you’re nervous and frustrated, but I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. Levi’s a nice guy; just get to know him before saying anything about your crush, and you’ll be fine.”

“I guess you two are right. I’ll have to go over and introduce myself tomorrow, though, since I have to go to work in an hour.” If it hadn’t been for work, though, Eren would have gone over and introduced himself right then and there. Instead, he spent that time preparing for his shift at a local convenience store. After talking with his friends, Eren was kind of looking forward to meeting Levi.

*****

The following day, Eren walked over to the neighbor’s house, intent on (finally) introducing himself to Levi. It was just after noon, and as Eren paused on the sidewalk in front of the driveway, facing the neighbor’s garage, he could see a short, black-haired man checking music equipment in said garage. Eren walked up the driveway, past the cars, to introduce himself.

“Good thing you’re here, Hanji. I could use some help setting things up; can you check to see if the instruments are tuned properly?”

“Uh, I’m not Hanji. I’m Eren, one of the new neighbors who moved in next door. I thought I’d finally come over and introduce myself. And you are?”

“Levi. And sorry for mistaking you for Hanji. I was so focused on setting things up that I didn’t look to see who was coming.” Well, no one had bothered to mention that Levi was _handsome_ as well as a good singer. His black hair was styled into an undercut, and Eren could see the sharply defined muscles of his torso through the thin grey fabric of his t-shirt.

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Eren replied, trying not to look like he was ogling the other man. “Mikasa told me that you’re the lead singer of your band. I’ve heard you practicing a lot, and you’re really good!”

“Thanks. And that would be me; Levi Ackerman, lead singer of The Titans.”

“The Titans?” Eren thought that was a rather odd name for a rock band, but who was he to judge?

Levi must have been reading his mind, or was simply very good at reading facial expressions. “Yes, I know what you’re thinking. ‘The Titans’ is a rather unusual name for a band. The name was Hanji’s idea. Apparently, they had a strange dream about people-eating giants called Titans, and were inspired to name our band after them. The name stuck, and here we are. It may be an unusual name, but it’s a good one.”

“We also have our first live performance at the Rose Bar on the Friday of the second week of the semester. You could come see it, if you’re interested.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there for sure. I have to go do some chores around the house before work, but it was nice meeting you, Levi. Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon.”

“Well, we’re neighbors, so I’m sure we will.” As Eren left to go home, he couldn’t help the wide smile spreading across his face. Levi had been nice, just like Mikasa said. It turned out he hadn’t had anything to worry about, after all.

*****

It had been several weeks since Eren and Levi first met, and it was now the end of the second week of the semester. And more importantly, tonight was The Titans’ first public performance at the Rose Bar, a popular drinking spot for students near campus. The bar was known for hosting local music acts, and so it had been an obvious choice when Levi and his band were scouting their first venue. Eren had promised he’d go, all those weeks ago on the day he’d first met Levi. And now, at 8pm that Friday night, he waited for The Titans to take the stage for their first performance.

This was also the night Eren planned to tell Levi how he felt about him. After their first meeting, Eren’s crush on Levi hadn’t gone away. Rather, it manifested itself as a warm, fluttery feeling in Eren’s belly every time he spent time with Levi, or thought of the other man while day-dreaming. And they had spent a lot of time together over the past few weeks, getting to know each other more with each passing day. And lately, Eren could have sworn he saw the occasional faint blush dusting Levi’s cheeks, almost as if he had feelings for Eren, too.

Which was why Eren intended to say that he liked Levi tonight, after The Titans’ performance was over. The two planned to go back to Levi’s place together afterwards to spend time together, and Hanji, Erwin, and Mike planned to stay at The Rose to watch the other bands that were scheduled to perform that night.

Eren cheered along with the crowd when The Titans finally took the stage at 8:30pm. It had been a treat hearing the band practice next door, but they were even better on stage. They played some original songs of their own, in addition to covering some popular rock songs. And Levi’s singing voice was as beautiful as ever; Eren felt like he could listen to it forever. The Titans left the stage at 10pm, in order to allow the next band to set up. However, due to the fact that The Titans had to regroup after their performance, Eren and Levi left the bar together closer to 10:30. Eren wasn’t complaining, though; after all, he _was_ going to spend time alone with Levi that night.

“Levi, are you sure the others don’t need your help getting everything back to the house?”

“I told you Eren, its fine. We got some of our other friends to help take care of everything.”

“Ah, that’s good. Now we’re heading back to your place, right?” Eren said as he and Levi climbed in Levi’s car.

“Yeah,” Levi said with a soft smile. “we are.”

*****

After getting home, Levi and Eren decided to watch a movie to celebrate the success of The Titans’ first performance. They quickly agreed on “Step Brothers”, and went to the kitchen to get some snacks before starting the movie. A nervous fluttering settled in Eren’s stomach, and a dark blush painted his cheeks, much as he tried to stop it.

After getting some dip out of the fridge, Levi looked in Eren’s direction. “Eren, is something wrong? You look nervous, and you’re blushing.” Levi’s voice was gentle and laced with concern.

“I-I like you, Levi.” Eren managed to stutter out, his blush deepening even further.

“I like you too, Eren.”

“No, I _like you_ , Levi. I mean, as more than just a friend. I mean, at first it was just your singing voice, but then I got to know you better. And then I liked you even more because you were nice, and funny, and-“

“ _Eren_.” Levi’s voice, and the gentle press of his palm on Eren’s cheek, caused Eren to look at Levi, and see the warm, tender expression on his face. Levi then closed his eyes, and slowly leaned in closer. Eren closed the distance, and pressed his lips to Levi’s. Levi’s lips were so warm, and so soft, and the sensation of finally kissing the other man sent a pleasant tingling sensation down Eren’s spine. They exchanged several slow kisses before breaking apart for air.

“ _Wow_.” Eren was feeling breathless and light-headed after the kiss. “I guess that means you feel the same way?”

“Yeah,” Levi said softly. “I do. Now, how about we watch that movie and cuddle on the couch?”

“Can we cuddle up under a blanket?”

“Of course, Eren. Anything for you.”


End file.
